Synodical Conference Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 1954, Page 57

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Ev. Luth. Synodical Conference of North America, 1954 57

The Military Chaplaincy and Scouting

An Essay Prepared at the Behest of Wisconsin Synod Officials
for the Synodical Conference Convention
August 10—13, 1954, East Detroit, Mich.

Essayist: EpDwArp C. FREDRICH

When the Wisconsin Synod in its special 1953 convention
charged The Lutheran Church — Missouri Synod with “persistent
adherence to its unionistic practices,” it mentioned as instances
of such practices scouting and the chaplaincy, the two subjects
treated in this paper in inverse order.

THE MILITARY CHAPLAINCY
Brief History of the Controversy

The disagreement regarding the chaplaincy has existed for
some fifteen years, and repeated attempts to settle it have been
unsuccessful. In 1939 and 1941 the Wisconsin Synod decided it
could not on Scriptural grounds commission military chaplains, a
decision in which its 1951 committee, after studying revised gov-
ernment regulations, concurred. As early as 1941 the Army and
Navy Commission of the Missouri Synod was speaking about a
profound difference of opinion between the two synods on basic
principles involved in this subject, fruitless efforts to remove them,
and an end of efforts to co-operate with the sister synod in its
work. The chaplaincy question was before the 1946: Synodical
Conference convention. It was on the agenda of its Interim Com-
mittee from 1946 to 1952. It was referred to the faculties of the
theological seminaries in 1952. This year the Missouri-Wisconsin
Presidents’ Conference also considered, among other matters, the
chaplaincy but without reaching any substantial agreement.

The Issue

We obviously are confronted, not by a minor difficulty that
has arisen because of misunderstanding and lack of consultation
and can be relegated to committee after committee, but by a serious
difference regarding either the application of Bible doctrines or the
doctrines themselves. This difference must be given full and prompt
attention and dealt with in all seriousness and with all possible
dispatch. Previous discussions should certainly by now have
eliminated any and all suspicions that one synod might be callous
to the needs of servicemen or that the other might, contrary to its
convictions, be taking the line of least resistance. We should be
ready to center our whole attention on the question on which the
controversy hinges, the question: Can the Church in accordance
with the divine instructions given it in God’s Word commission its
ministers to serve as military chaplains under prevailing conditions?
The Missouri Synod answers in the positive by word and deed.
The Wisconsin Synod stands by the reply it gave in its 1941
chaplaincy resolutions, which read:

“The Commissioning of Army and Navy Chaplains by our
Synod would conflict with Scriptural principles and established
Lutheran practice because